Persimmon (Diasoyros kaki), which is a nutritious and alkaline fruit, contains 11˜15% of sugar such as fructose and glucose, about 20˜50 mg/100 g (edible portion) of vitamin C, which is about 5˜12 times as much as that of apple, and more minerals than apple. Additionally, persimmon contains a great quantity of vitamin A and tannic acid, the latter of which produces a bitter taste. Especially, tannic acid is known to remedy diarrhea or stomach disorder, as well as lower the blood pressure without affecting an electrocardigram. Accordingly, many of research in persimmon, as both food and medicine, are actively going on.
Amount of persimmon produced in domestic was about 155,111 ton (in 1992), but has been increasing yearly to about 239,570 ton in 1997. Also, cultivation area of persimmon is increasing yearly. Because the persimmon has a higher profitability than other fruit, e.g., apple, significant increasing of its cultivation area is expected. Thus, there is a need for the development of persimmon for use as both food and medicine.
Meanwhile, persimmon vinegar has been produced for a long time, in order to obtain maximally the effect of the beneficial nutrients in persimmon. Persimmon vinegar is described as “new fruit vinegar” in the literature of [San-Lim Kyun-je, published in the late Chosun Dysnasty]. Vinegar is a widely used seasoning, and its constituents has been known to have important influences on the human metabolism, since Krebs (U.S.A) and Kipman (England) reported the TCA cycle theory in 1953.
Vinegar contains a great quantity of organic acids involved in the TCA cycle, including acetic acid, and thus smoothly activates the TCA cycle without accumulating a lactic acid in body. Therefore, the vinegar is effective to refresh and makes the blood a weak alkali. Such vinegar has been made from numerous fruits and grains. Of these, persimmon vinegar has a better flavor than others (for example, apple vinegar, brown rice vinegar, etc.). The persimmon vinegar also contains a great quantity of tannin, which is a polyphenolic compound, and thus lowers the blood pressure and strengthens blood vessels. The persimmon vinegar also contains a great quantity of acetic acid as main component and other organic acids involved in TCA cycle, which make it good for refreshment, increase appetite and prevent numerous adult diseases.
Despites the fact that persimmon vinegar is a traditional fermented seasoning, there are few studies of persimmons and persimmon vinegar. But today, as the interest in health food is increased, it began to study pharmacological components of persimmon and standard method for preparing the persimmon vinegar. Sugahara et al. studied a preference for persimmon beverages (reference: Sugahara, T., et al., The preference for Kaki beverage. Nippon Shokuhin Kogyo Gakkaishi, 33(4), 281-284, 1987). Nakashima et al. produced persimmon vinegar using an Acetobacter, which isolated from persimmon during fermentation of the persimmon, and studied changes in the composition of the persimmon vinegar (reference: Nakashima, M., et al., Changes in the composition of persimmon vinegar induced by Acetobacter sp. isolated from “Sanja” persimmon fruits during the fermentation; Nippon Shokuhin Kohyo Gakkaishi, 34(12). 818-825, 1987). Nippon patents relating to persimmon vinegar include a method for producing alcohol beverage using persimmon (reference: Nippon nonexamined patent No. 56-25104), and a method for preparing persimmon vinegar that reduces alcohol concentration in blood (reference: Nippon nonexamined patent No. 61-224980).
There is a report that superior strain producing an acetic acid is isolated and cultivated with stirring to obtain persimmon vinegar having an acidity of 5%, in Korea (ref: Won Sub CHA, Joon hee PARK, Jin Gu KIM; Study of production of persimmon vinegar, 20, 29-32, 1980, in articles of Sang-ju Agricultural Specialized University). Also, there has been a study of development of instant vinegar, in which major microorganism involved in fermentation of persimmon vinegar is isolated from persimmon vinegar and then identified, and concentration of acetic acid is assayed (ref: Myung Chan KIM et al., Production of vinegar using persimmon, Korean Industrial Microbiology, 8(2), 103-111, 1980). Also, there has been continuous studies of production of persimmon vinegar, including study of production of persimmon vinegar using Saccharomyces cerevisiae FWKS 260 yeast and Acetobacter aceti (ref.: Choong Yeon WON et al., Study of development of instant vinegar using persimmon, Korean Nutritional Food Academic Committee Fall Thesis Presentations, p. 55, 1994), and study of production of vinegar using persimmon which deteriorated due to low temperature storage (ref: Korean Nutritional Food Academic Committee, 25(1), 123-128, 1996). Korean patents relating to persimmon vinegar include a method for preparing persimmon vinegar (Korean Patent Publication Nos. 93-008120, 98-151732, and Korean Patent Appln. No. 98-002239), a method for producing a galenical preparation using persimmon vinegar (Korean Patent Open-laid No. 96-028915), a method for preparing instant persimmon vinegar (Korean Patent Publication No. 98-149279), method for preparing beverage composition containing persimmon vinegar (Korean Patent Open-laid No. 97-032521), and a method for preparing persimmon vinegar using a fertile egg of white silky fowl (Korean Patent Open-laid No. 97-074922). However, all these previous studies are limited to the production of persimmon vinegar or simple application of already-produced persimmon vinegar to beverages, and fail to extend to the study of the technique for processing persimmon vinegar into beverage convenient to drink.
Now, persimmon vinegar is used as sour seasoning for cooking in Korea, but major use of the persimmon vinegar is to directly drink it as health food. In such case, it is general to dilute it and directly drink it with honey. However, even though it is diluted, characteristic strong sour taste and smell of the persimmon vinegar make it very difficult and substantially painful to drink. Also, since being in liquid form, it is inconvenient to carry and difficult to use as an ingredient for cooking. Accordingly, there is a need for the development of technique capable of overcoming these disadvantages. That is to say, persimmon vinegar, having acidity of approximately 4%, generally has strong smell and taste of its own and thus is inadequate to directly drink in terms of preference. Also, liquid form of the persimmon vinegar limits handling of the vinegar, blending with other food, as well as its application and use. Therefore, it is attempted to pulverize persimmon vinegar, in order to overcome such disadvantages.
Korean Patent Open-laid No. 98-000188 describes a method for preparing persimmon vinegar powder, in which molecules of the persimmon vinegar is entrapped using a entrapping property of dextrin, smell of the persimmon vinegar is entrapped using a gum, and then persimmon vinegar as above is dried. However, the above method is a merely one which a general method for pulverizing liquefied material is applied to persimmon vinegar. The method has a difficulty in properly alleviating a sour taste of persimmon vinegar or entrapping a smell of its own. The method also comprises the step of pretreating or aging persimmon vinegar in a sealed container, which makes processing of the vinegar complex and requires a considerable time. Thus, the method is inadequate for pulverization of persimmon vinegar. Also, since the method uses a stock solution of persimmon vinegar, the used container has to be very large, concentration of persimmon vinegar in persimmon vinegar powder is very low and concentration fluctuation of persimmon vinegar is very severe. Especially, the sour taste of the persimmon vinegar powder, which prepared by the method is not adequately masked, and thus problems of prior liquefied persimmon vinegar still remain, when consuming the persimmon vinegar powder. Therefore, there is a need for techniques, which can control taste and smell of the persimmon vinegar so that it can be consumed directly, and inhibit a loss of active ingredients of vinegar, as well as prepare persimmon vinegar powder of good quality in a standard and convenient way.
Therefore, we make an effort to pulverize persimmon vinegar to make it easy to consume. In result, we found that when extract of persimmon leaf and the other excipients are added to a concentrate of persimmon vinegar to obtain a mixture, and then the mixture is pulverized, sour taste of persimmon vinegar can be eliminated and the characteristic flavor of persimmon leaf is added, which lead to prepare persimmon vinegar powder having an enhanced preference. We also found that standard and economical persimmon vinegar powder can be produced by use of the concentrate of persimmon vinegar, so as to complete the present invention.